Phosphoric acid is the backbone of all phosphate fertilizers and the production of phosphoric acid is the first step.
Phosphoric acid is produced by what is known as the wet process, in which sulfuric acid is added to the rock. This process is called the wet process(es). The wet processes include the dehydrate and the hemihydrate processes (hydrates of gypsum). All the wet processes are energy intensive and polluting to the environment. Typically, the wet process phosphoric chemical complex requires from one hundred to three hundred acres of acid ponds.
The new process overcomes this problem.